Satyajit Ray on Cinema

Satyajit Ray, one of the greatest auteurs of twentieth century cinema, was a Bengali motion-picture director, writer, and illustrator who set a new standard for Indian cinema with his Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) (1955), Aparajito (The Unvanquished) (1956), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959). His work was admired for its humanism, versatility, attention to detail, and skilled use of music. He was also widely praised for his critical and intellectual writings, which mirror his filmmaking in their precision and wide-ranging grasp of history, culture, and aesthetics.

Spanning forty years of Ray's career, these essays, for the first time collected in one volume, present the filmmaker's reflections on the art and craft of the cinematic medium and include his thoughts on sentimentalism, mass culture, silent films, the influence of the French New Wave, and the experience of being a successful director. Ray speaks on the difficulty of adapting literary works to screen, the nature of the modern film festival, and the phenomenal contributions of Jean-Luc Godard and the Indian actor, director, producer, and singer Uttam Kumar. The collection also features an excerpt from Ray's diaries and reproduces his sketches of famous film personalities, such as Sergei Eisenstein, Charlie Chaplin, and Akira Kurosawa, in addition to film posters, photographs by and of the artist, film stills, and a filmography. Altogether, the volume relays the full extent of Ray's engagement with film and offers extensive access to the thought of one of the twentieth-century's leading Indian intellectuals.

About the Author

Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries, and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer, and film critic. His other writings on cinema include the best-sellers Our Films Their Films and Speaking of Films. Ray received many major awards for his work, including thirty-two Indian National Film Awards and a Bharat Ratna from the Government of India, and he is the only Indian to have received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

Sandip Ray is the son of Satyajit Ray and runs the children's magazine Sandesh. In 1983, he directed his first film, Phatikchand, which won several national and international awards. Sandip also directed Satyajit Ray presents, a television series based on Satyajit Ray's short stories.

Shyam Benegal is a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Dadasaheb Phalke in 2007, the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement. He is also a seven-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

"The work of Satyajit Ray presents a remarkably insightful understanding of the relations between cultures, and his ideas remain pertinent to the great cultural debates in the contemporary world, not least in India.The New Republic" — Amartya Sen, The New RepublicNobel Laureate Economics

"Satyajit Ray is among the world's greatest directors, and has influenced so many other film makers in all parts of the world." — James Ivory

"Ray's magic, the simple poetry of his images and their emotional impact, will always stay with me." — Martin Scorsese

About the Author

Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries, and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer, and film critic. His other writings on cinema include the best-sellers Our Films Their Films and Speaking of Films. Ray received many major awards for his work, including thirty-two Indian National Film Awards and a Bharat Ratna from the Government of India, and he is the only Indian to have received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

Sandip Ray is the son of Satyajit Ray and runs the children's magazine Sandesh. In 1983, he directed his first film, Phatikchand, which won several national and international awards. Sandip also directed Satyajit Ray presents, a television series based on Satyajit Ray's short stories.

Shyam Benegal is a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Dadasaheb Phalke in 2007, the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement. He is also a seven-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

Preface: Sandip RayForeword: Shyam Benegal

PART ONE: THE FILM-MAKER'S CRAFT

1. National Styles in Cinema 2. Notes on Filming Bibhuti Bhusan 3. Should a Film-maker Be Original?4. This Word 'Technique'5. All These Devices 6. The Changing Face of Films 7. The Question of Reality 8. The Confronting Question 9. A Film Must Achieve Its Objective 10. Thoughts on the Camera11. 'I Wish I Could Have Shown Them to You'12. The New Cinema and I13. Under Western Eyes14. The Art of Silence

PART TWO: PEN PORTRAITS15. A Word about Godard 16. The New Antonioni17. The Nayak 18. 'Never Use Animals'19. The Immortal Tramp

FilmographySatyajit Ray's Contributions to Films Other Than His OwnAwards won by Satyajit RayIndexPreserving a Legacy

About the Author

Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries, and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer, and film critic. His other writings on cinema include the best-sellers Our Films Their Films and Speaking of Films. Ray received many major awards for his work, including thirty-two Indian National Film Awards and a Bharat Ratna from the Government of India, and he is the only Indian to have received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

Sandip Ray is the son of Satyajit Ray and runs the children's magazine Sandesh. In 1983, he directed his first film, Phatikchand, which won several national and international awards. Sandip also directed Satyajit Ray presents, a television series based on Satyajit Ray's short stories.

Shyam Benegal is a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Dadasaheb Phalke in 2007, the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement. He is also a seven-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

About the Author

Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries, and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer, and film critic. His other writings on cinema include the best-sellers Our Films Their Films and Speaking of Films. Ray received many major awards for his work, including thirty-two Indian National Film Awards and a Bharat Ratna from the Government of India, and he is the only Indian to have received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

Sandip Ray is the son of Satyajit Ray and runs the children's magazine Sandesh. In 1983, he directed his first film, Phatikchand, which won several national and international awards. Sandip also directed Satyajit Ray presents, a television series based on Satyajit Ray's short stories.

Shyam Benegal is a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Dadasaheb Phalke in 2007, the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement. He is also a seven-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

About the Author

Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries, and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer, and film critic. His other writings on cinema include the best-sellers Our Films Their Films and Speaking of Films. Ray received many major awards for his work, including thirty-two Indian National Film Awards and a Bharat Ratna from the Government of India, and he is the only Indian to have received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

Sandip Ray is the son of Satyajit Ray and runs the children's magazine Sandesh. In 1983, he directed his first film, Phatikchand, which won several national and international awards. Sandip also directed Satyajit Ray presents, a television series based on Satyajit Ray's short stories.

Shyam Benegal is a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Dadasaheb Phalke in 2007, the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement. He is also a seven-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

About the Author

Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries, and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer, and film critic. His other writings on cinema include the best-sellers Our Films Their Films and Speaking of Films. Ray received many major awards for his work, including thirty-two Indian National Film Awards and a Bharat Ratna from the Government of India, and he is the only Indian to have received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

Sandip Ray is the son of Satyajit Ray and runs the children's magazine Sandesh. In 1983, he directed his first film, Phatikchand, which won several national and international awards. Sandip also directed Satyajit Ray presents, a television series based on Satyajit Ray's short stories.

Shyam Benegal is a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Dadasaheb Phalke in 2007, the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement. He is also a seven-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.